WASHINGTON (AP) — Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn’t get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state’s National…

NEW YORK (AP) — For all its crowds, Manhattan may also be the country’s loneliest metropolis. It has the highest percentage of single-person households of any county in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “I think it’s the best way to live,” said James Conaboy, 35, a musician who, after years of living…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Air Force will send 300 airmen home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help their families cope with emergencies on a hurricane-devastated airbase in Biloxi, Miss., a spokesman said Saturday. The airmen, all based at Keesler Air Force Base, would begin flying home over the next two weeks,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s unemployment rate dipped to a four-year low of 4.9 percent in August as companies added 169,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market continued to gain traction before Hurricane Katrina struck. The latest snapshot of the United States’ jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, buttressed observations by…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bone-tired and beyond hungry, the victims of Hurricane Katrina let their emotions show when a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine finally rolled through what once was New Orleans. A crowd of nearly 20,000 stood outside the New Orleans Convention Center as at least three dozen camouflage-green troop…

By MARTHA MENDOZA / AP National Writer Hurricane Katrina had no deliberate target, but in the aftermath it’s clear that the victims — who are now facing a horrifying lack of rescue and care — are mostly black and mostly poor. So many photographs from the devastation of New Orleans show the same faces: Desperate.…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Lt. Gov. John Wilder is drawing fire for showing up at an ethics committee meeting where a loan made by his bank to a fellow senator was expected to be one of the issues discussed. The Wednesday meeting was going to be closed to the public, but that didn’t stop Wilder from…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Hispanic high school students in Tennessee are boosting their scores on the ACT college-readiness exam at a rate that outpaces state and national increases. Hispanic students in the state’s 2005 graduating class on average scored 19.5 out of 36, which is just under the state average of 20.5 and the national average…

McMinnville resident and Grundy County native Theresa Bess Bouldin, 57, died Aug. 31 at River Park Hospital after a brief illness.A nurse’s aide at Warren Regional Hospital and a member of the non-denominational faith, she was the daughter of Heber Earl Bess of Murfreesboro and the late Esther Lee Bouldin Bess.She is survived by daughters,…

Morrison resident and native Nancy Rebecca Bratcher, 62, died Aug. 31 at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville after an extended illness.A homemaker, she was the daughter of Jesse T. and Stella McMahan Bratcher Sr.; and was preceded in death by brother, Maurice Bratcher.She is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, John and Kathy Maxwell of Spring…